Stockholm, Sweden, January 26 - 28, 2004

China Mental Health Watch is a new international organization composed of psychiatrists, physicians, lawyers, mental health professionals, hospital staff, and victims of the persecution, their families and friends in and outside China. This is a non-governmental organization whose purpose is to investigate and bring to light the on-going persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, with particular focus on the harmful effects of psychiatric abuse and psychological torture.

The systematic persecution launched by the Chinese government in July 1999 has used all known as well as new methods of torture and abuse. This persecution unlike many others in history is aimed directly and indirectly at the human conscience. It aims to extinguish belief in Falun Gong and violates the very basic human rights of freedom of thought and belief. This does not only affect Falun Gong practitioners (about 100,000,000 in China) but also affects those who execute the orders of persecution. It includes all level of government, public security, media, medical personnel, all corners of society, including international communities. Over 800 practitioners have already been killed, and the moral conscience of millions has also been affected. Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give up their beliefs face intense defamation and propaganda campaigns directed to turn public opinion, expulsion from education and jobs, extortion, arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, physical torture, financial bankruptcy, psychiatric and psychological torture, forced labor, sexual assault, etc., with the sole goal to destroy the conscience of practitioners and the public.

This persecution is also causing a large number of psychiatric casualties. Mentally healthy practitioners after being tortured suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychosis, Depression, or other emotional conditions. We have been collecting evidence through face-to-face interviews with the victims of labor camps and brainwashing classes as well as family members who lost their loved ones by the persecution. Lin Shen Li, once a high-functioning person, was persecuted with physical and mental torture that has left definite sequelae. When Lin Shen Li went to Beijing in December 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong, he was arrested and held for forty days. He was then transferred to a detention center for two months and finally sentenced to one and half years in a forced labor camp. He was told that if he did not change [his beliefs] he would never be released. The Chinese authorities extended his imprisonment by half a year, resulting in two years in a forced labor camp. Lin Shen Li was placed with the most dangerous criminals because he took a letter to the appeal office in Beijing.

Lin Shen Li was fed moldy rice, which had different colors of mold growing on it. It wasn't edible, but without some sustenance his body could not survive. There were periods of several days when the police forced him to sit all day from 7AM to 9PM on a 6-inch bench with his hands on his lap, without moving or talking. He was beaten on his hands, knees and legs. Most days he was forced to work long hours making basketballs by hand, and at times he was forced to carry 140 lbs on his back. They placed a basketball between his legs to which he tied pieces together with waxed leather strings. This forced labor for long hours without rest and inadequate nutrition caused the skin of his fingers to break and begin to bleed. He received no medical treatment.

As a result of severe malnutrition his body began to bleed all over. Every time he pulled down his pants, the skin peeled off of his legs, back, etc. The pain became intolerable - the pain of this skin coming off, the pain of the endless hours sitting on the small bench, the pain of pulling the leather string with his bloody fingers, the pain of the beatings, etc. From day to day, there was no time for his body to heal. Everyday he endured this treatment because he refused to renounce Falun Gong; because he would not "transform", they beat him. He could hardly sleep because of the pain. The little time that he slept was full of nightmares about being beaten. He had vivid dreams of the person who arrested him. His sleep was continuously interrupted.

Other prisoners had the right to have visitors, but Lin Shen Li was totally isolated and no one was allowed to visit him. He was not allowed to receive letters, not even the letter his wife sent via The Red Cross. He was prohibited all communication with the world. He was forced to watch government propaganda videos full of deception. Three other prisoners were with him to make sure that he watched the videos. Not only did the police beat him but other prisoners were told to beat him, too.

Finally, the day he had been waiting for1 ?year was about to arrive, but that afternoon, without warning, the police announced to him that he could not be released. He said: "They wanted to destroy the spirit. When a person's spirit is destroyed, the person can't live any longer. I could not believe this was happening. This cannot be! It is so hard to stay here! No reason at all! I feel I can't go on any longer!"

When Lin Shen Li returned to Canada in 2002, he continued to have nightmares full of terror of the tortures, the police who arrested him, the beatings, etc. Even now he still has occasional recurrent memories and nightmares of his persecution. These are flashbacks of vivid moments like the iron doors closing and echoing throughout the labor camp.

Lin Shen Li has become a nervous person. He is hyper-vigilant especially when he sees a policeman or when the media in Vancouver, Canada interviews him. He became fearful of the media due to experiencing the Chinese propaganda against Falun Gong that incites hatred in people's hearts. If he hears a siren, he startles, shivers, and develops heart palpitations and a racing heart. Sirens at night keep him from sleeping.

He feels his energy diminishing and cries especially when reading about those who are dying, or being tortured to death. He has little enjoyment for things he used to do. When in the labor camp, he had suicidal thoughts and wanted to cut his arteries with the sharp tools he used to make basketballs. He denies any suicidal thoughts since he has been released.

Mr. Lin has an education equivalent to an Associate degree in Architecture, but he is presently unemployed. At the time of interview, he met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression.

The Chinese authorities seek to "change" people who practice Falun Gong.?This process, referred to as "transforming", is commonly known as brainwashing. As a form of torture, brainwashing is the infliction of mental abuse in hopes of producing confusion and instability of the mind.?Such practices entail one or more of the following: intimidation, threats of terror, forced repetition of detailed information, bribery, and deprivation of sleep & food sometimes with the use of loud high pitch sounds for long periods of time.?In addition, many other physical forms of torture such as beatings, electrocution and rape are used to facilitate brainwashing.?Under these circumstances some victims then denounce Falun Gong and sign documents known as "repentance statements" along with other related papers.?The majority of those who sign these papers do so against their own will only to avoid further torture.?The ultimate result has had different outcomes, all of which have been negative in one way or another.?Some practitioners repent and then continue practicing Falun Gong in hiding once released.?Others come to believe the opposite of their personal beliefs prior to brainwashing. Not only do their beliefs oppose their previous ones but they often do not correlate with reality.?On a further extreme others have left the practice of Falun Gong and participated in the persecution by beating and torturing steadfast practitioners in labor camps and detention centers for their own personal gain such as early release, recognition and fame.

The perpetrators use forced labor and physical torture to control their bodies and minds. Defamation of their victims to take away any credibility among their peers and the enrollment of persons with authority or in positions of power to support their dogma are done to create confusion in their victims. The victims are forced to watch movies of government propaganda for many hours a day, or made to read such books and other materials. They are required to write their understanding of this forced study. Along with this method many are being physically tortured or beaten almost everyday, sometimes tied in odd and painful positions. Some are tied up outside exposed to the extreme weather - either hot sun or extreme cold - driving them to physical exhaustion. It is understood that the victims are isolated from their families and friends. They have no information of their families or of their own destiny. They do not know when their torture will end and if they will be released or killed. They are watched at every moment. These techniques create fear, hopelessness and destroy their dignity and confidence such that the victims would rather die than continue enduring such unending torture. At times when they become almost insane or delirious the psychological survival of the self is tied to holding on to their own thoughts, because by that time their own thoughts are being manipulated and become derailed. There is almost no more control of their own thinking. During a delirious state, in the midst of nonsense thoughts, or in a dream-like state, with hallucinations, the only hope they have is to keep a clear thought for a short while. Finally, it is much easier to give in to what their perpetrators want in exchange for a moment of ease or the promise of an hour of sleep. In the end "brainwashing" occurs in this psychological chaos and a mental breakdown is soon to follow.

There are many sad stories about Falun Gong practitioners who have been brainwashed.?For example, a young couple in China, Lin Chengtao and his wife, practiced Falun Gong until they were arrested and sent to Tuanhe Labor Camp in October 2001.?Lin Chengtao was 37 years old, held a masters degree and worked as an assistant research scientist at the Fundamental Research Institute of Concord at the University of Medical Science in China.?The couple was separated then physically and mentally tortured.?They were forced to attend brainwashing classes.   Though both resisted for some time, his wife gave in to the brainwashing and eventually turned against her husband.?She, who through Falun Gong practiced and strove to be compassionate, wrote a letter to the labor camp officials where her husband was being tortured, requesting them to torture her husband further and even gave personal examples of how he ought to be tortured in order to force him to denounce Falun Gong as she had done.?This was a happy and pacific couple before they were detained, but the wife turned into a cold-hearted person with these cruel requests against her husband who later became mentally ill. After a long period of torture by the police, he became distant and removed, and he wouldn't speak.?Sometimes he was seen rushing into the hallways, shouting loudly and having hallucinations. Lin Chengtao has been released and presently he takes antipsychotic medications for hallucinations.

Through the control of information and communication the Chinese authorities have attempted to justify these crimes by vilifying Falun Gong to the Chinese people and the international community, often effectively intimidating people into cooperating by remaining silent. Through phone, fax, Internet, email, television, radio, print media and foreign relations, this constant denigration is thrust into people's minds thus hindering international intervention and deceiving and pressuring the Chinese people and others to knowingly and unknowingly aid in these crimes against humanity.

The persecution of mentally healthy Falun Gong practitioners is unprecedented in terms of the number of victims, hospitals involved, the brutality of methods used and the severity of the consequences. According to incomplete data, over 1,000 healthy Falun Gong practitioners were involuntarily admitted to mental institutions, many who were forcibly injected with psychotropic drugs. They received electro-shock and some were tied up and force-fed for long periods of time.

Many of these practitioners were held in hospitals for as long as two and half years. Based on Human Rights organizations' reports, over 100 mental institutions participated in China in this particular form of the persecution. At least 11 practitioners have died from this type of maltreatment. The first reported death as a consequence of psychiatric abuse was in The Washington Post on June 23, 2001.

The story was of the 32-year-old computer engineer Su Gang who was repeatedly arrested by the security department of his company because he refused to give up practicing Falun Gong was especially shocking... after he protested the ban on Falun Gong in Beijing on April 25, Su Gang was arrested for the second time. On May 23, the Alkene Plant of Qilu Petro-Chemical Company where he worked authorized the police to have him involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital.

According to Su Gang's father, the doctor gave Su Gang forced injections twice a day, every day, of unknown drugs that damaged his central nervous system. One week later when he left the hospital, Su Gang could not eat or move his limbs. On June 10, 2001, the formerly healthy young man died of heart failure.

Mental health hospitals frequently administer heavy doses of anti-psychotic medications and other unknown substances by force-feeding through nasal-gastric tubing or mixing them into practitioners' food. As a result, many practitioners suffer loss of memory, severe headaches, tremors, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and loss of consciousness, etc. Some severe cases resemble Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome. They also handcuff or bind practitioners into very painful postures for long periods of time, insert acupuncture needles deep into the muscles and apply electric current to produce excruciating pain, and burn detainees' skin with electric batons. Typically, the practitioners meet the criteria for discharge only when they stop doing the exercises, or if they sign a pledge to renounce their belief in Falun Gong. In the more unfortunate cases, they were discharged because they were close to dying from the abuses. Some psychiatric hospitals rate themselves as being successful in "converting" Falun Gong practitioners.

The Chinese government labels mentally healthy Falun Gong practitioners with mental illness and by using the state owned media creates misunderstanding, confusion, prejudice, discrimination and even hatred toward Falun Gong practitioners among the people, which allows them to promote and sustain the persecution of Falun Gong.

In order to discredit Falun Gong, the government regularly takes actual cases of suicide, homicide, or psychotic behavior, and then after the fact attributes these incidents to the practice of Falun Gong. As an example, the homicide case of Fu Yibin was used in this hate campaign. In November 2001 Fu Yibin killed his wife and father, and severely injured his mother, during a psychotic episode. According to his relatives, prior to this breakdown, Fu Yibin had an eight-year long history of psychotic episodes, some of which included violent outbursts. There was no evidence that he had ever been a Falun Gong practitioner as the government propaganda claims. No forensic psychiatric exam of Fu Yibin was performed, and no third party investigation was allowed.

China's growing cases of appalling psychiatric abuse blatantly violate the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Assembly 1948, to which China is a signatory. International organizations such as the World Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association, The Royal College of Psychiatry, Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and others are presently joining the common effort to stop this on-going human rights violation.

Despite the efforts of the WPA and other international organizations to stop the abuse of psychiatry in China, we continue to receive news of deaths in psychiatric facilities. The last death known to our Information Center was in October 2003 when Liu Tongling, from Rang district, Daqing city, was declared dead at the Harbin Rehabilitation Center.

She was arrested three times for appealing for Falun Gong to officials and in August of 2003, she was arrested one last time for clarifying the facts of the persecution to several leaders at her workplace. She was taken to Daqing Hong Wei Xing brainwashing classes. She started a hunger strike to protest the brainwashing and was transferred to Harbin Rehabilitation Center. At the rehabilitation center she was confined to a small compartment. She started another hunger strike to protest that treatment. Soon her health deteriorated and she developed a heart condition. When her family visited her at the end of September, her legs were swollen and her thinking was confused. Although the police were aware that she was not mentally sound, they did not want to send her for a psychiatric exam since they did not want to be blamed for causing such a state.

Her family paid 3000 Yuan to the person in charge (called Yang), and asked him to help to get Liu Tongling released for medical treatment. Yang accepted the money and asked for 30000 more Yuan. However, before the family could gather enough money to pay Yang, on October 12, 2003, Liu Tongling died. An eyewitness reported that two days before her death she was extremely weak yet she was forced to sit on an iron chair (a form of torture) in an empty room for punishment. The authorities tried to conceal the crime by refusing to let the family see her body, but they were able to see it after they protested. Her face appeared abnormal, her eye area appeared dark, her nose was injured due to force-feeding, and her mouth had lacerations. Her body had a lot of bruises, her wrists had deep marks from handcuffs, her ankles were swollen, and her chest had marks left by electric shocks. The director, Chen, told the family that they did not want to keep Liu Tongling in the facility but Chang Guojun, a 610 officer of the Daqing Petrolia Management Company, told him he had to keep her.

According to unofficial Chinese estimates, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of this persecution and to date at least 841 people have been confirmed dead. All of these events, to include the constant threat of maltreatment, have caused mental anguish and forced even more practitioners to hide their true beliefs and practice. The extent of the psychological ramifications both on the practitioners and the world at large, has surely not yet been realized. As concerned world citizens we can make a difference and help end this suffering.

For more information, please contact Dr. Sunny Lu (513) 759-6218, Dr. Viviana Galli (513) 535-4468, Dr. Michael Yang (215) 219-8745, or Tanya Harrison (605) 716-1575 or by e-mail at: CMHW@innoport.com or fax (866) 832-1786.

Sincerely,

China Mental Health Watch,
World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong